Pump



June 19, 1945.

A. BERTE AI Filed Nov'. 3. 1941 June 19, 1945. j A. BERTEA 2,378,390

PUMP

Filed Nov. 5, 1941 v s Sheets-Sheet s Patented June-19, 1945 PUMP Alexander Bertea, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Burwood Corporation, Los Angeles, Call!., a corporation of California Application November 3, 1941, Serial No. 417,636

8 Claims. (Cl. 103-136) This invention relates to a pump and more particularly pertains to a rotary fluid metering plicable for use on air craft in pumping antiicing fluid fuel, lubricating oils, etc.

Pumps of the above" type in order 'to render them suitable for the purpose of pumping deicmg fluid and other liquids in air craft operations must essentially be extremely small, light in weight and of very low capacity all of which necessitates the construction of assemblage of extremely small parts with a high degree of accuracy and precision.

The primary object of the invention is to providea construction ina pump which will ,meet the conditions above stated and which is so des1gned that minute parts may be readily assembled therein and in which the parts are so arvariable capacity pump'of' the type especially apranged as to withstand considerable wear and in which the assemblage is such as toproduce a small pump that is highly efflcient and dependable.

Another object is to provide a rotary pump in association with an electric motor in which the pump and motor housings are interconnected and in which'a floating connection is aiforded between the motor drive shaft and the driven shaft of the pump rotor such as not to impose thrusts on the motor shaft such as might prevent or in terfere' with theself-adjustment of the motor shaft under the magnetic influence of the motor and whereby the bearings of the motor shaft and rotor shaft are relieved of excessive lateral strains due to disalignments. l

Another object is to provide a sealing means for the pump rotor which is so designed as to prevent leakage of fluid being pumped through connections between the rotor and the electric motor by which the rotor is driven.

Another object is to provide a rotary pump embodying a rotor and a, profiled stator in which the rotor is equipped with rollers serving as vanes arranged to traverse a contoured stator and in which-the contours of the stator are such as to by varying the lengths of the rotor and stator,

and without the necessity of varying the diameters thereof. v

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention is carried into effect as illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the pump and motor assembly;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail in longitudinal section of the pump taken on the line 2-2 of Fig.

1 and as seen in the direction indicated by the arrows and showing the interconnection of the pump rotor with the motor shaft;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; as seen in the direction indicated by the arrows; v

Fig. 4 is a reduced cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 as seen in the direction indicated by the arrows;

' Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the pump rotor and stator shown' in Fig. 3 for the purpose of more clearlyshowing the profile of the stator and the action of the rotor rollers in effecting a pumping action on traversing the stator profile;

Fig. 6 is a diagram of the developed curve of I the stator profile; Fig. .7 is a cross sectional view of a modified form of the pump showing it as designed for increased capacity;

Fig. 8 is a. reduced cross sectional and elevational view taken on the line 88 of Fig. '7 as seen in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional and elevational view taken on the line 99 of Fig. '7 as seen in the directionindicated by the arrows;

Fig. 10 is a view in longitudinal section taken on the line Ill-l0 of Fig. '1 illustrating the floating connection betweenthe motor shaft and rotor shaft and depicting the rotor shaft sealing means;

Fig. 11 is an enlarged detail in section taken on the line H-ll of Fi 10;

Fig. 12 (Sheet 1) is a view in section and elevation taken on the'line l2-l2 of Fig. 2 as seen in the direction indicated by-the arrows. v

Referring to the drawings more specifically A indicates generally the pump housing and B designatesthe motor housing which housings are detachably connected together bybolts l4 passed through the pump housing andscrewed into engagement with the motor housing. The motor housing is equipped with an electric motor preferably of the high torque typeset forth inmy co-pending application forUnited States Patent Ser. No.370,449 filed December 17, 1940, and

which includes a drive shaft l5 mounted in a. a

which is journalled for longitudinal self adjustment in a bearing assembly l8 mounted on the forward end wall I! of the motor housing as particularly shown. in Fig. 2.

The pump housing A is formed with an internal chamber C having a cylindrical wall l3 which chamber opens at one end toward the motor end wall I! and is covered at its forward end by a wall I9 constituting the front end wall of the housing A.

An apertured gasket 20 (particularly shown in Fig. 12) is seated on the inner face of the end wall 19 which gasket is formed with a pair of diametrically opposed openings 2| which communicate with a channel 22 extending diametrically of the wall l3 and to which channel leads a pump intake opening 23 inthe end wall 13 to which a conduit-24 leading from any suitable source of a supply of fluid to be pumped is connected.

vArranged in the chamber C within the pump housing is a cylindrical block 25 which bears against the gasket 20 and is held in place by a crowding ring 26 screwed into engagement with the cylindrical wall I8 of the chamber from the open end of the latter; a centering ring 21 being interposed between the crowding ring and the block 25 and which crowding ring and centering ring have abutting inclined faces 28 on conform to the bore 29 and accordingly have wedge Wagement therewith. Interposed between the bearing blocks 33 and 3! within the bore 23 is a stator 32 in the form of an annulus the outer periphery of which conforms to the tapered bore 23 and the inner periphery of which is contoured to have a general elliptical outline and which will be more specifically described hereinafter.

A cylindrical rotor 33 is arranged in the stator 32 and is fitted with oppositely extending axially aligned shafts 34 and" which are iournalled in axial bores formed in the bearing blocks 33 and 3|. The rotor 33 has a diameter slightly less than the short diameter of the stator contour and is formed on its outer periphery with a series of transverse channels 38 ofrectangular cross sec-- tion each of. which channels is arranged with its bottom wall extending perpendicular to a radius of the rotor extending through the channel midway of the width thereof and with the side walls of the channel paralleling such radius, A multiple of the channels is thus provided, here shown as twelve in number, and arranged ineach of the channels is a loose roller 31 having a diameter slightly less than the width and depth of the channel; the rollers 31 corresponding in length to the width of the rotor and being adapted to move freely outward in the channels under the action of centrifugal force and to traverse the contoured inner periphery of the stator on rotation of the rotor.

The stator 32 is formed with a pair of opposed inlet passages a and 1) leading from the outer to the inner peripheries thereof and-is also formed with opposed outlet passages c and d leading from the inner to the outer peripheries thereof and which passages communicate respectively with passages e, f, g, and h formed in the block 25 leading from the bore 29 in the latter obliquely 0f the radii of the block and which passages are closed at their outer ends by plugs 33. The passages e and g connect with lateral openings i and a leading to the apertures 2| in the gasket and thus communicate with the pump intake 23 through the passage 22. The passages j and h communicate with lateral openings k and I leading to outlet passages 39 and 40 in the end wall l3 through openings m and n in the gasket 20 which outlet passages connect with conduits 4| and 42 respectively leading to suitable points of discharge.

The rotor shaft 35 extends outwardly into the chamber C from the block 25 in axial alignment with motor shaft l5 and terminates proximate to but spaced from the outer end of the motor shaft which extends into a recess p in the end wall II of the motor housing. The shafts 35 and I5 are coupled together by a slip coupling comprising a sleeve 43 loosely supported on the outer end of the shaft l5 for longitudinal movement relative thereto but held for rotation therewith by a pin 44 extending diametrically through the shaft I 5 and engaged in open ended slots 45 in the sleeve 43; the sleeve 43 also extending over the rotor shaft 35 in longitudinal slidable relation thereto and .anchored thereon for effecting rotarymovement thereof by a pin 45 extending diametrically through the shaft 35 and engag against the outer face of the sealing ring is a cushioned washer 43 having a tubular extension 53 which intimately contacts the shaft 35 and interposed between the washer 43 and the pin 48 is. a pair of ring discs 5| and 52 between which is arranged an expansible spring 53; the disc 5| bearing against the washer 43 and the disc 52 bearing against the pin 48 whereby the spring 53 will act to maintain the friction ring 43 in close contact with therbearing block 3|. As a means for converting the seal thus formed into a suction seal the shaft 35 is formed with a bore 54 leading through the rotor and shaft 34 and opening through an aperture 55 in the gasket 23 to the passage 23 so as to communicate with the intake es of the pump; the inner end of the bore 54 connecting with a transverse passage 53 leading diametrically to the shaft 35 and communicating at its ends with an annular channel 51 formed on the inner margin of the inner periphery of the friction ring 48 and whereby suction induced on the intake side of the pump rotor will act to induct any liquid that may leak through the iournal of the shaft 35 afforded by the bearing block 31 into the intake side of the pump thus effectively preventing such liquid from entering the chamber C and thereby obviating possibility of such liquid fouling the motor. In order to neutralize any suction effect of the motor or parts arranged in the chamber C such as might tend to off-set the suction imparted to the journal of the shaft 35, vents II are provided in the pump housing to communicate the chamber C with outside atmosphere.

The profile of the stator approximates a true ellipse except that portions thereof leading from adjacent the outlet passage d toward the inlet.

passage a, and from adjacent the outlet-passage c toward the inlet passage b are straight and constitute diametrically opposed seals as indicated at q and r in Figs. and 6, and which straight portions extend approximately twenty-two degrees from the outlet passages to points approximately midway between the outlet and inlet passages and lie close to the outer periphery of the rotor. Proceeding from the straight seal conthe motor drive shaft l5 operates through the formed. Furthermore. such wear as may be occasioned by relative movement of the rollers, rotor and stator would necessarily have to be considerable before efficiency of the pump would be eflected since'the parts may be subject to considerable wear by reason of the floating rollers adapting themselves to changesordinarily occasioned by wear. An'eifective seal will be afforded between the openings of intake and outlet passages when the rollers traverse the sealing contours since the rollers will be held in close contact with such contours under the urge of centrifugal force and will be held in, intimate contact with the leading sides of their channel while traversing the sealing contours under the urge of fluid pressure then imposed against the rear- .ward and undersides of the rollers.

It will be understood that as the rollers traverse the stator profile they will act as vanes in effecting inflow of liquid through the inlets a and b and its discharge through the outlets c andd.

The liquid passing from the outlets c and d will flow through the outlet passages 39 and 40 respectively and will pass in equal volumes and pressures through the discharge conduits Al and 42 by reason of the liquid delivered by the pump to the discharge conduit ll will be advanced by slip coupling to drive the rotor 33 through the shaft-35. Rotation .of the rotor will cause the rollers 31 to advance therewith and whereupon the rollers 31 under the urge oflcentrifugal force will be caused to move outwardly in the channels 30 so as to bear against and traverse the stator profile in sliding and rolling contact therewith.

the rollerstraversing one-half the stator contour between the sealing profiles q and r and the liquid delivered to the other discharge conduit will be pumped by the rollers traversing the other half of the stator contour. It will be understood however that the discharge outlets of the pump may be merged into one or may be connected to The rollers being of slightly less diameters than the widths of thechannels will shift laterally therein according to the direction of forces imposed thereon, for example, assuming the rotor to be revolving in the direction of the arrow thereon in Fig. 5- as each roller traverses the opening of an inlet passage it is subjected to negative pressure on the side thereof presented to the inlet which together with the inertia'of the roller and the resistance of fluid'in front thereof will cause the roller to bear against the trailing side of the channel as indicated in the lower portion of Fig. 5. The rollers will then be positively ad:- vanced around the stator directly under the urge of the rotor by reason of the trailing margins of. c the channels shoving the rollers forward. How- 'ever, when a "roller traverses the opening of an outlet passage and is relieved on its forward portion of the back pressure or head of the liquid being pumped such back pressure will then be imposed on the rearward portion of the roller so that it' will be advanced against the leading margin of thechannel inwhich position it remains while traversing the sealing contour r or q of the statorand in which position the roller will also be maintained as it leaves the sealing. contour and approaches an inlet by reason of its being subjected. to negative pressure developed at .the inlet passage. On the cycle thus being completed the roller is again brought into contact with the trailing margin of the channel and 'is advanced thereby. In this fashion the rollers are constantly shifting and by reason of being caused to rotate at least from time to time while traversing the stator profile thus practically eliminating friction, will be subjected to a minimum of additional pairs of discharge conduits.

The pump as above described is especially designed to serve asa small capacity pump. In.

pumps now in use-the rotor has a diameter of approximately three-eighths of an inch and a width of one-fourth of an inch. Such pumps have a maximum capacity of two gallons per hour through each of two outlets. However this capacity may be reduced by lowering the speed of rotation of the rotor. The construction herein setforth lends itself to an extremely low output so as to meet requirement for a minimum capacity of prolonged operation of as low as .5 gallon per hour per outlet.

However because of the unique designed characteristics of the pumping chamber the pump may be readily designed to increase maximum output and pressures to'conform to requirements by merely elongating the rotor and stator and the pump housing as shown in Fig. '7, without increasing the diametrical dimensions thereof. In this modification the stator indicated at 60 is formed with rows of inlet and outlet passages. Only the inlet passages s are shown in Fig. '7

since it will be understood that outlet passages would be arranged complementary to outlet passages c and d of the stator shown in Fig. 5 which latter substantially depicts a section of the structure shown in Fig. '7 taken through the stator passages. In' this instance the inlet passages s are shown as communicating with a passage u in the stator holding block BI which passage 11. communicates through a gasket 62 with 'a passage 63 in the end wall 64 of the. pump housing and to wear and whereby the pump is rendered extramely long lived. However. the rollers are formed of an extremely hard and wear resisting .metal andaccordingly Iarenot liable'to be dewhich passage 63 the pump intake passage 65 leads. In this instance the end wall 64 is shown as provid'edwith a pair of discharge passages 66 and 61' which are interconnected by a passage 68 formed in the end wall 64 and which may be connected in a conventional manner to suitable points of discharge.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a rotary pump that may be readily assembled and applied to a motor, and which is.

capable of being constructed in extremely small a profiled stator in said housing having a plurality of outlet passages and a rotor in said stator formed with a series of transverse channels, means affording communication of the single intake opening with the plurality of inlet passages and the communicationof the plurality of outlet openings with the plurality of outlet passages, and a cylindrical roller floating in each of said channels having a diameter less than the width and depth of the channel in which it is positioned providing a space between the roller 'and the channel side and bottom walls for reception of liquid being pumped and whereby back pressure of such liquid will act to advance the rollers outwardly and forwardly against the forward walls of the channels and against the profiled contour of th stator during rotation of the rotor while the rollers are traversing portions of the stator at and contiguous the trailing margin of the openings of the outlet passages in the stator.

2. The structure called for in claim 1 in which the stator is contoured to extend close to the periphery of said rotor to form sealing areas alo g diametrically opposed sides of said rotor, and is also contoured to provide pump spaces between said sealing areas on opposed portions of the rotor and with one of said stator inlets-adjacent one end of said pump space and with one of said stator outlets at the other end of said space whereby a double pumping action will be efiected upon each rotation of the rotor and an equal flow will be effected through each of said outlet openings.

' rotor for traversing the double profiles of said stator, and operable to discharge fluid being pumped at equal pressures and volumes through each of said outlet passages and pump outlets on rotation of said rotor.

4; In a rotary pump, apump assembly including a pair of spaced bearing blocks, a stator interposed betweensaid blocks having a profiled inner periphery, a rotor within said stator, shafts on said rotor journalled in said bearing blocks,

block in said housing, said stator having inlet and outlet passages and said supporting block having inlet and outlet passages communicating the inlet and outlet passages of the stator block with the inlet and outlet passages of the housing, and means for driving said rotor through one of said shafts.

- 5. In a rotary pump, a pump assembly including a pair of spaced bearing blocks, a stator interposed between said blocks having a profiled inher periphery, a rotor within said stator, shafts on said rotor journalled in said bearing blocks, said assembly being tapered, a supporting block for said assembly having a tapered bore to receive and conform to said assembly, a pump housing having an end wall formed with inlet and outlet openings, means for fastening said supporting block in said housing, said stator having inlet and outlet passages and said supporting block having inlet and outlet passages communieating the inlet and outlet passages of the stator block with the inlet and outlet passages of the housing, and means for driving said rotor through one of said shafts, said fastening means including a centering ring bearing against said supporting block, and a crowding ring screwed into said housing and bearing against said centering ring and holding said supporting block against the housing and wall.

6. In a pump unit subject to insertion and removal as such relative to a housing therefor, a pump supporting block having an axial bore extending therethroughand provided with intake and outlet passages leading from said bore said assembly being tapered, a supporting block for said assembly having a tapered bore to receive V and conform to said assembly, a pump housin .having an end wall formed with inlet and outlet gopenings, means for fastening said supportin .means through an outer surface of said block, a tubular statorpaxially insertable and removable relative to said bore having a length less than that of said bore to provide bearing-accommodating spaces when the stator is positioned intermediate the ends of the bore, said stator having intake and outlet passages affording communication of interior of said stator with said intake and outlet passages of said block, said stator having a profiled inner periphery, a rotor in said stator, shafts on said rotor, bearing blocks for said shafts mounted in the ends of said bore, one of said shafts extending through and beyond one of the bearing blocks and adapted to be driven, and means carried by the rotor for traversing the profiled inner periphery of said stator and pumping fluid through said passages during rotation of said rotor.

"I. In a pump unit subject to insertion and removal as such relative to a housing therefor, a.

- pump supporting block having an axial bore extending therethrough and provided with intake and outlet passages leading from said bore through an outer surface of said block, a tubular stator axially insertable and removable relative to said bore having a length less than that of said bore to provide bearing-accommodating spaces when the stator is positioned intermediate the ends of the bore, said stator having intake and outlet passages affording communication of interior of said stator with said intake and outlet passages of said block, said stator having a rofiled inner periphery, a rotor in said stator, shafts on said rotor, bearing blocks 'for said shafts mounted in the ends of said'bore, one of said shafts extending through and beyond one of the bearing blocks and adapted to be driven, and carried by the rotor for traversing the profiled inner periphery of said stator and pumping fluid through said passages during rotation Of said igotonsaid bore, said stator and said bear- 2,878,890 a ing blocks being correspondingly tapered wherebythe stator and bearing blocks are held in place by a wedge action.

8. In a rotary pump, a housing formed with an inlet opening and two outlet openings, 9. block formed for axial insertion and removal relative to saidhousing having an axial bore and formed and outlet passages of said block, a rotor formed for axial insertion into and removal from said stator, shafts carrying said rotor, bearing blocks for said shafts arranged in the bore in said block .at the opposite ends of said stator,

means for driving one of said shafts to rotate said rotor, said rotor being formed with a series of" transverse channels, and rollers floating in said channels; adapted to traverse the profiled contour of said stator on rotation of said rotor to pump'equal amounts 'of fluid through said two outlet openings. i

ALEXANDER BER'I'EA. 

